As has been the case most weekends, the Guardia Civil, mountain-rescue service has been called out several times. This time round, they handled four call outs.

They had to rescue a climber from Sevilla who fell down a rockface, four abseilers who got stuck in the Barranco de Poquiera, a young girl who was too physically exhausted to continue along the Junta de Los Ríos (Otívar) and a hiker with health problems who got lost in the Sierra de Loja.

Let’s look at them one by one, starting with the Sevillano climber who fell down a rockface: the 112 emergency call centre received an alert on Saturday around 08.15h and called out the Guardia Civil. The accident occurred between the Refugio La Carihuela and the Elorrieta one. The climber fell about 100 metres down a steep, frozen slope. The centre then lost contact with the victim’s climbing companions

With the helicopter already on its way, the Guardia Civil managed to reestablish communication with the other climbers. They were told that their group consisted of three climbers and that one of them had had the accident. This victim had lost consciousness for some time owing to the fall.

Flying over the area the team saw that the accident had taken place on the south face of the Tajos de la Virgen. The pilot managed to land close by and the 2-man team immobilised his injuries so that he could be flown to the PTS hospital in Granada.

Moving on to the little girl: it was 17.15h on Sunday when 112 received the call to say that an 8-year-old girl was showing signs of being dangerously exhausted along a hiking route within the Junta de Los Ríos. The rescue helicopter was despatched. They picked up the girl and her father without any problems and flew them both to to where the father’s car was parked.

That same evening 112 received a call for help from walkers in the Sierra de Loja. One person within the group, who has memory problems, became detached from the rest and they couldn’t find him. The rescue chopper flew circles over the area and despite the fact that the lost person was wearing dark clothing, they spotted him. Landing quickly, they picked him up and flew him to Loja where the Policía Local was to take over the operation.

But the evening was far from over, because four abseilers had managed to get stuck where the Barranco de la Chorrera joins the Barranco Poqueira. They were all in good health but couldn’t cross the river because the current was too strong; neither could they trace their steps. The helicopter with a 2-man rescue team, found them and winched them up, one by one and took them back to where their cars were parked.

Editorial comment: the mind boggles! What the hell was the father of the 8-year-old thinking? What the hell were four abseilers doing in a barranco in this changeable weather? Did they expect to find a trickle of water instead of the raging current? I have nothing but sympathy for the lost person with memory problems but his companions should have kept a much better eye on him… and wearing dark clothes?

(News/Noticias: Province of Granada, Andalucia)